Video processing device, display device, video processing method, and recording medium

ABSTRACT

A video processing device processing input videos, includes a video processing unit that processes the input videos; and a control unit that sets a control value for controlling the video processing unit, wherein an entire input video is constituted by combining the input videos, and among partial areas associated with the respective input videos constituting the entire input video, one of the partial areas is defined as a first partial area, and another of the partial areas adjacent to, the first partial area is defined as a second partial area, and when processing which is performed, by referring to a pixel value in one of the first partial area and the second partial area, on another of the first partial area and the second partial area, is defined as adjacent boundary processing, the video processing unit performs the adjacent boundary processing on the entire input video, and generates processed videos.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following disclosure relates to a video processing device thatprocesses each of a plurality of input videos.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, PTL 1 discloses a video processing device for efficientlyprocessing a plurality of video data pieces.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

PTL 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.2016-184775

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

There is still room for improvement to improve the display quality of avideo processed by a video processing device. An object of one aspect ofthe present disclosure is to provide a video with a more superiordisplay quality than in the related art.

Solution to Problem

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided avideo processing device processing a plurality of input videos,including: a video processing unit that processes each of the pluralityof input videos; and a control unit that sets a control value forcontrolling the video processing unit, in which an entire input video isconstituted by combining the plurality of input videos, and when in theentire input video, among a plurality of partial areas associated withthe plurality of respective input videos constituting the entire inputvideo, (i) one of the partial areas is defined as a first partial area,and (ii) another of the partial areas adjacent to the first partial areais defined as a second partial area, and when processing which isperformed, by referring to a pixel value in one of the first partialarea and the second partial area, on another of the first partial areaand the second partial area at a boundary between the first partial areaand the second partial area, is defined as adjacent boundary processing,the video processing unit performs the adjacent boundary processing onthe entire input video according to the control value, and generates aplurality of processed videos.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provideda video processing method for processing a plurality of input videos,including: a video processing step of processing each of the pluralityof input videos; and a control step of setting a control value forcontrolling the video processing step, in which an entire input video isconstituted by combining the plurality of input videos, and when in theentire input video, among a plurality of partial areas associated withthe plurality of respective input videos constituting the entire inputvideo, (i) one of the partial areas is defined as a first partial area,and (ii) another of the partial areas adjacent to the first partial areais defined as a second partial area, and when processing which isperformed, by referring to a pixel value in one of the first partialarea and the second partial area, on another of the first partial areaand the second partial area at a boundary, between the first partialarea and the second partial area, is defined as adjacent boundaryprocessing, the video processing step further includes steps ofperforming the adjacent boundary processing on the entire input videoaccording to the control value, and generating a plurality of processedvideos.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

In accordance with a video processing device according to an aspect ofthe present disclosure, it is possible to provide a video with a moresuperior display quality than in the related art. In addition, thesimilar effect is achieved by a video processing method according toanother aspect of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a mainpart of a display device according to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of aback-end processing unit in the display device in FIG. 1 in more detail.

FIG. 3(a) is a diagram showing one entire input video constituted by aplurality of input videos as a synchronous video, and FIG. 3(b) is adiagram showing an example of a plurality of input videos as anasynchronous video.

FIG. 4(a) is a diagram showing one entire output video constituted by aplurality of output videos as a synchronous video, and FIG. 4 (b) is adiagram showing an example of a plurality of output videos as anasynchronous video.

Each of FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) is a diagram for explaining boundaryprocessing.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining adjacent boundary processing.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a synchronization determinationmethod focusing on the skew of a vertical synchronization signal betweenthe plurality of input videos.

Each of FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b) is a flowchart showing an example of aprocessing flow in the display device in FIG. 1.

Each of FIGS. 9(a) and 9(b) is a diagram showing a state of videoprocessing when the plurality of input videos are synchronous videos.

Each of FIGS. 10(a) and 10(b) is a diagram showing a state of videoprocessing when the plurality of input videos are asynchronous videos.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining an input video and an output videoin a display device according to Embodiment 2.

FIG. 12(a) is a diagram showing one entire input video constituted by aplurality of input videos as a synchronous video, and FIG. 12(b) is adiagram showing an example of a plurality of input videos as anasynchronous video.

FIG. 13(a) is a diagram showing one entire output video constituted by aplurality of output videos as a synchronous video, and FIG. 13(b) is adiagram showing an example of a plurality of output videos as anasynchronous video.

Each of FIGS. 14(a) and 14(b) is a diagram showing a state of videoprocessing when the plurality of input videos are synchronous videos.

Each of FIGS. 15(a) and 15(b) is a diagram showing a state of videoprocessing when the plurality of input videos are asynchronous videos.

FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of adisplay device according to Embodiment 3.

FIG. 17 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of adisplay device according to Embodiment 4.

FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of adisplay device according to one modification example of Embodiment 4.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1

Hereinafter, a display device 1 according to Embodiment 1 will bedescribed. For the convenience of description, in the followingembodiments, members having the same functions as the members describedin Embodiment 1 will be denoted by the same reference numerals, anddescription thereof will not be repeated.

Overview of Display Device 1

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a mainpart of a display device 1. The display device 1 includes a back-endprocessing unit 10 (video processing device), a display unit 70, a useroperation reception unit 75, a storage unit 90, and a dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM) 99. Note that a “video” may be referred to as a“moving image”.

The back-end processing unit 10 acquires a plurality of videos morespecifically, video signals) input to the back-end processing unit 10(display device 1) from outside. Hereinafter, the video input to theback-end processing unit 10 is referred to as an input video.

The back-end processing unit 10 processes a plurality of input videosand outputs a plurality of processed videos to the display unit 70.Hereinafter, the processed video output from the back-end processingunit 10 (more specifically, the output unit 13 described later) to thedisplay unit 70 is referred to as an output video. The display unit 70acquires an output video from the back-end processing unit 10 anddisplays the output video.

The back-end processing unit 10 includes an input unit 11, videoprocessing units 12A to 12D, an output unit 13, a DRAM controller 19,and a control unit 80 (video processing device). The video processingunits 12A to 12D may be collectively referred to as a video processingunit 12. The detailed configuration of the back-end processing unit 10will be described later. The back end processing unit 10 and the controlunit 80 may be collectively referred to as a video processing device.

Embodiment 1 exemplifies as an example a case where four input videos(hereinafter, a first input video to a fourth input video) are input tothe back-end processing unit 10. Further, it is assumed that four outputvideos (hereinafter, a first output video to a fourth output video) areoutput from the back-end processing unit 10. The first to fourth outputvideos are videos obtained by the back-end processing unit 10 processingthe respective first to fourth input videos.

Embodiment 1 exemplifies as an example a case where each of the first tofourth input videos and the first to fourth output videos is a 4K2Kvideo (a video having a resolution of 4K2K). “4K2K” means a resolutionof “3840 horizontal pixels×2160 vertical pixels”.

In contrast to this, “8K4K” means a resolution of “7680 horizontalpixels×4320 vertical pixels”. One 8K4K video (video having a resolutionof 8K4K) can be expressed as a video constituted by four (two in thehorizontal direction and two in the vertical direction) 4K2K videos (forexample, see FIG. 3(a) described later).

Therefore, by combining the first to fourth input videos, an input video(entire input video) as one 8K4K video can be expressed. Similarly, bycombining the first output video to the fourth output video, an outputvideo (entire output video) as one 8K4K video can be expressed.

In Embodiment 1, the display unit 70 is an 8K4K display (display havinga resolution of 8K4K) capable of displaying 8K4K video. A displaysurface (display area, display screen) of the display unit 70 is dividedinto four (two in the horizontal direction and two in the verticaldirection) partial display areas (partial display areas 71A to 71D inFIG. 4 described later).

Each of the partial display areas 71A to 71D is a display area having aresolution of 4K2K. In Embodiment 1, it is assumed that the partialdisplay areas 71A to 71D is associated one-to-one with a plurality ofrespective input videos (for example, first to fourth input videos).Therefore, the partial display areas 71A to 71D can display a pluralityof respective output videos (for example, first to fourth outputvideos).

The user operation reception unit 75 receives an operation of a user(hereinafter, user operation). The user operation is an operation byusing an infrared remote controller or the like for operating thedisplay device 1. The control unit 80 collectively controls each unit ofthe display device 1. A command corresponding to a user operation may begiven from the user operation reception unit 75 to the control unit 80.The storage unit 90 stores various programs executed by the control unit80 and data used by the programs.

The DRAM 99 temporarily stores the video being processed by the back-endprocessing unit 10. The DRAM 99 functions as a frame memory for storingeach frame of the video. As the DRAM 99, a known double data rate (DDR)memory is used. The DRAM controller 19 of the back-end processing unit10 controls an operation of the DRAM 99 (in particular, reading andwriting of each frame of a video).

Back-End Processing Unit 10

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of theback-end processing unit 10 in more detail. In FIG. 2, suffixes “A” to“D” may be used to indicate the units corresponding to the first tofourth input videos (or the first to fourth output videos),respectively. In FIG. 2 and the subsequent drawings, the display unit70, the user operation reception unit 75, and the storage unit 90 areappropriately omitted for simplicity.

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, each unit with a suffix “A”(each unit corresponding to the first input video or the first outputvideo) will be mainly described. The configurations and operations ofthe respective units (units corresponding to the second to fourth inputvideos and the second to fourth output videos) with the suffixes “B” to“D” are the same as those of the units with the suffix “A”, andtherefore the description will be appropriately omitted.

Input Unit 11

The input unit 11 receives the first to fourth input videossimultaneously (in parallel). The input unit 11 includes inputprocessing units 110A to 110D and a synchronization processing unit 114.For distinction, the input processing units 110A to 110D may be referredto as first to fourth input processing units, respectively.

The input processing unit 110A includes an input IF (Interface) unit111A, a format conversion unit 112A, and an input detection unit 113A.Similarly, the input processing units 110B to 110D include input IFunits 111B to 111D, format conversion units 112B to 112D, and inputdetection units 113B to 113D, respectively.

Each of the input IF units 111A to 111D is an HDMI (High-DefinitionMultimedia Interface) (registered trademark) port. Specifically, each ofthe input IF units 111A to 111D is an HDMI 2.0 port (port correspondingto the HDMI 2.0 standard) capable of acquiring 4K2K video. At present,input IF standards that can support 8K4K video is not widespread.Therefore, as described above, in Embodiment 1, four 4K2K video signalsare acquired by the input IF units 111A to 111D that satisfy the 4K2Kvideo standard.

In this specification, each of a plurality of videos synchronized witheach other is also referred to as “synchronous video”. Specifically, thesynchronous videos mean videos in which (i) timing of verticalsynchronization signals (Vsync) and (ii) timing of data enable (DE)signals match each other.

The back-end processing unit 10 transmits each of the four input videos(4K2K videos) as the synchronization signal by corresponding one of fourtransmission systems (the input processing units 110A to 110D), therebythe back-end processing unit 10 can transmit one 8K4K video (entireinput video) to the display unit 70.

FIG. 3(a) shows an example of one 8K4K video (entire input video)constituted by four input videos that are synchronous videos. The entireinput video means one video (input video) constituted by combining aplurality of input videos. In FIG. 3(a), one entire input video IMGAin(8K4K video) is represented by combining four of a first input videoIMGAin1 to a fourth input video IMGAin4. For example, the entire inputvideo IMGAin is video content indicating a sports program.

As described above, four of the first input video IMGAin1 to the fourthinput video IMGAin4 are partial areas constituting the one entire inputvideo IMGAin. That is, it may be understood that the one entire inputvideo IMGAin can be divided into four of the first input video IMGAin1to the fourth input video IMGAin4 (partial areas).

On the other hand, each of the plurality of videos that are notsynchronized with each other is also referred to as “asynchronousvideo”. FIG. 3(b) shows a first input video IMGin1 to a fourth inputvideo IMGin4 as examples of four asynchronous videos. The first inputvideo IMGin1 to the fourth input video IMGin4, which are asynchronousvideos, are videos having a low correlation (or no correlation) witheach other.

For example, it may be expressed as follows,

The first input video IMGAin1: Video content indicating a sportsprogram;

The second input video IMGin2: Video content indicating a news program;

The third input video IMGin3: Video content indicating an entertainmentprogram;

The fourth input video IMGin4: Video content indicating a televisionanimation program;

Note that a virtual entire input video that is not intended by a user isalso constituted by four input videos that are asynchronous videos.Similarly, a virtual entire output video (described later) that is notintended by the user is also constituted by four output videos(described later) that are asynchronous videos.

The input IF unit 111A acquires, for example, a broadcast wave (forexample, a signal carrying the first input video). The input IF unit111A decodes the carrier wave and acquires a first input video. Further,the input IF unit 111A acquires first input video information from thebroadcast wave. The first input video information is informationindicating the content of the first input video. Similarly, the input IFunits 111B to 111D acquire the second to fourth input video information(information indicating the contents of the second to fourth inputvideos), respectively.

The format conversion unit 112A converts the format of the first inputvideo so as to be suitable for synchronization processing and videoprocessing described below. The input detection unit 113A detects firstinput video content information. The first input video contentinformation may include information indicating (i) content data, (ii)resolution (vertical resolution and horizontal resolution), and (iii)frame rate of the first input video.

The control unit 80 acquires the first to fourth input video contentinformation pieces from the input detection units 113A to 113D,respectively. Further, the control unit 80 determines whether or not thefirst to fourth input videos are synchronous videos based on the firstto fourth input video content information (hereinafter, synchronizationdetermination). An example of a method for performing thesynchronization determination (hereinafter, a synchronizationdetermination method) will be described later.

The control unit 80 outputs a control value CV indicating the result ofthe synchronization determination to the video processing unit 12. Forexample, when the first to fourth input videos are synchronous videos,the control unit 80 sets CV=1. Further, when the first to fourth inputvideos are asynchronous videos, the control unit 80 sets CV=0. Asdescribed below, the control value CV may be used as a flag value forcontrolling the video processing unit 12.

After the synchronization determination is performed in the control unit80, the operation of the synchronization processing unit 114 is started.The synchronization processing unit 114 acquires the first to fourthinput videos from the input processing units 110A to 110D, and performssynchronization processing on the first to fourth input videos. Thesynchronization processing in the synchronization processing unit 114 isexecuted irrespective of whether the first to fourth input videos aresynchronous videos.

Specifically, the “synchronization processing” means processing ofadjusting the timing and arrangement of data of each of the first tofourth input videos in order to enable subsequent video processing inthe video processing unit 12 (each of the video processing units 12A to12D). By changing a setting value of the synchronization processing unit114, the timing at which each video is output from the synchronizationprocessing unit 114 and the arrangement of data of each video can bechanged.

The synchronization processing unit 114 accesses the DRAM 99 (forexample, DDR memory) via the DRAM controller 19. The synchronizationprocessing unit 114 performs the synchronization processing using theDRAM 99 as a frame memory.

Video Processing Unit 12

The video processing units 12A to 12D simultaneously (in parallel)perform video processing on the first to fourth input videos, in whichthe synchronization processing is done, respectively. For distinction,the video processing units 12A to 12D may be referred to as first tofourth video processing units, respectively.

The video processing is, for example, processing for improving the imagequality of the first to fourth input videos. More specifically, thevideo processing in the video processing unit 12 means processingperformed on each frame of the input video. The video processingincludes “boundary processing” and “adjacent boundary processing”described below (see FIGS. 5 and 6 described later).

When the first to fourth input videos are synchronous videos, the videoprocessing units 12A to 12D use the same video processing settings(video processing parameters) to perform the video processing on thefirst to fourth input videos, respectively. That is, the same videoprocessing setting is applied to the four video processing systems.

On the other hand, when the first to fourth input videos areasynchronous videos, the video processing units 12A to 12D use thedifferent video processing settings to perform the video processing onthe first to fourth input videos, respectively. That is, different videoprocessing settings are applied to the respective four video processingsystems.

In addition, the video processing unit 12 may change the videoprocessing settings (video processing parameters) according to thecontrol value CV acquired from the control unit 80. That is, the videoprocessing unit 12 may change the content of the video processingaccording to whether or not the first to fourth input videos aresynchronous videos.

Specifically, when CV=1 (when the first to fourth input videos aresynchronous videos), the video processing unit 12 performs the adjacentboundary processing on the first to fourth input videos (morespecifically, the entire input video constituted by the first to fourthinput videos). On the other hand, when CV=0 (when the first to fourthinput videos are asynchronous videos), the video processing unit 12 doesnot perform the adjacent boundary processing on the first to fourthinput videos.

The video processing unit 12A includes a filter processing unit 120A, aframe rate conversion unit 121A, and an enlargement unit 122A.Similarly, the video processing units 12B to 12D include filterprocessing units 120B to 120D, frame rate conversion units 121B to 121D,and enlargement units 122B to 122D, respectively.

The filter processing unit 120A performs filter processing (for example,noise removal processing and edge enhancement processing) on apredetermined area of the first input video. The filter processing is anexample of processing performed in the boundary processing and adjacentboundary processing described below.

The frame rate conversion unit 121A converts the frame rate of the firstinput video in which the filter processing is done. As an example, theframe rate conversion unit 121A increases the frame rate of the firstinput video from 60 fps (frames per second) to 120 fps. The frame rateconversion unit 121A may perform, for example, de-judder processing.

The frame rate conversion unit 121A accesses the DRAM 99 (for example,DDR memory) via the DRAM controller The frame rate conversion unit 121Aconverts the frame rate of the first input video using the DRAM 99 as aframe memory.

When it is particularly important to improve the image quality of thefirst input video, the frame rate conversion unit 121A may furtherperform motion estimation/motion compensation (MEMC) at the time of theframe rate conversion. In this case, the frame rate conversion unit 121Arefers to a pixel adjacent to a certain pixel in the current frame (N-thframe) of the first input video, and derives a motion vector of thecurrent frame.

Thereafter, the frame rate conversion unit 121A generates a frame(interpolated frame) between the immediately preceding frame ((N−1)-thframe) and the current frame using the motion vector. That, is, theframe rate conversion unit 121A improves the image quality of the firstinput video by performing a frame interpolation. MEMO is an example ofthe adjacent boundary processing.

The enlargement unit 122A enlarges the first input video in which theframe rate conversion is done. Embodiment 1 exemplifies as an examplethe case where the video processing is performed on the first inputvideo in the order of “filter processing”→“frame rateconversion”→“enlargement” in the video processing unit 12A. However, theorder of each processing in the video processing unit 12A is not limitedto this.

The video processing unit 12A supplies the output unit 13 with the firstinput video in which the video processing is done (hereinafter, thefirst processed video). Similarly, the video processing units 12B to 12Dsupply the output unit 13 with the second to fourth processed videos(the second to fourth input videos in which the video processing isdone), respectively.

Output Unit 13

The output unit 13 includes an output format conversion unit 130 andoutput IF units 131A to 131D. The output format conversion unit 130acquires a plurality of processed videos (first to fourth processedvideos) from the video processing units 12A to 12D. The output unit 13further processes the plurality of processed videos to generate aplurality of output videos (first to fourth output videos).

The output format conversion unit 130 converts the format of the firstto fourth processed videos so as to be suitable for display on thedisplay unit 70. The output IF unit 131A supplies the first processedvideo in which format conversion is done, to the display unit 70 (morespecifically, a partial display area 71A) as the first output video.Similarly, the output IF units 131B to 131D supply the second to fourthprocessed videos in which format conversion is done, to the display unit70 (more specifically, partial display areas 71B to 71D) as the secondto fourth output videos.

FIG. 4(a) shows an example of one entire output video constituted byfour output videos that are synchronous videos. The entire output videomeans one video (output video) constituted by combining a plurality ofoutput videos. In FIG. 4(a), a first output video IMGAout1 to a fourthoutput video IMGAout4 correspond to the first input video IMGAin1 tofourth input video IMGAin4 in FIG. 3(a). Therefore, the first outputvideo IMGAout1 to fourth output video IMGAout4 are also synchronousvideos.

The first output video IMGAout1 to fourth output video IMGAout4 aredisplayed in partial display areas 71A to 71D (display areas with aresolution of 4K2K), respectively. Therefore, on the display unit 70,one entire output video IMGAout (8K4K video) can be displayed as acombination of the four of the first output video IMGAout1 to the fourthoutput video IMGAout4. That is, the entire output video IMGAout is an8K4K video corresponding to the entire input video IMGAin.

FIG. 4(b) shows a first output video IMGout1 to a fourth output videoIMGout4 as examples of four asynchronous videos. In FIG. 4(b), the firstoutput video IMGout1 to fourth output video IMGout4 correspond to thefirst input video IMGin1 to fourth input video IMGin4 in FIG. 3(b).Therefore, the first output video IMGout1 to fourth output video IMGout4are also asynchronous videos. In this case, in the partial display areas71A to 71D of the display unit 70, the first output video IMGout1 to thefourth output video IMGout4 having a low correlation (or no correlation)with each other are displayed.

Boundary Processing

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the boundary processing. FIG. 5 showsa case where the filter processing using a filter FIL1 with 5×5 taps isperformed on one image IMG (for example, one frame of a video).

FIG. 5(a) shows a case where the boundary processing is not performed.In FIG. 5(a), the entire filter FIL1 is included inside an image IMG. Inthis case, in the entire area covered by the filter FIL1, it is possibleto perform filter processing on pixels by referring to all pixel data(pixel values) in the image IMG.

FIG. 5(b) shows a case where the boundary processing is performed. InFIG. 5(b), a part (cross hatched portion) of the filter FIL1 ispositioned outside the image IMG. In this case, since the pixel of theimage IMG does not exist in the cross hatched portion, pixel valuescannot be referred to in the cross hatched portion. The same filterprocessing as in FIG. 5(a) cannot be performed. For example, the samefilter coefficient as in the case of FIG. 5(a) cannot be used.

Therefore, it is necessary to change the method of filter processing forpixels according to the position of the pixels covered by the filterFIL1. For example, it is necessary to change the filter coefficientaccording to the position of the pixels. As described above, when thefilter FIL1 is positioned so as to cross the boundary of one image IMG,filter processing according to the position of the filter FIL1 isperformed. In this specification, such video processing (imageprocessing) is referred to as boundary processing.

Adjacent Boundary Processing

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the adjacent boundary processing. Thewidth of the “boundary”, which is a processing range in the adjacentboundary processing, is not limited to one pixel. Therefore, “adjacentboundary” can be read as “adjacent portion”. For this reason, theadjacent boundary processing may be referred to as adjacent portionprocessing.

FIG. 6 shows a case where one image (for example, IMAin) is divided intoa plurality of partial areas (for example, IMGAin1 to IMGAin4) The imagein FIG. 6 is one frame of the entire input video IMGAin.

In FIG. 6, IMGAin1 to IMGAin4 are represented by characters “A1” to “A4”for simplicity. This is the same in the following drawings. A1 to A4 arealso referred to as partial areas. In Embodiment 1, the partial areas A1to A4 are associated with the partial display areas 71A to 71D.

However, as described in Embodiment 2 described later, the number ofpartial areas (the number of input videos) does not have to be equal tothe number of partial display areas. That is, the partial area does notnecessarily have to correspond one-to-one with the partial display area.For example, the number of partial areas may be smaller than the numberof partial display areas. As an example, in Embodiment 2, the number ofpartial areas is two, and the number of partial display areas is four(see FIGS. 12 and 13).

The partial area may be an area that indicates each of the plurality ofinput videos constituting the entire input video in the entire inputvideo. That is, the partial area only needs to correspond to each of theplurality of input videos constituting the entire input video in theentire input video.

The adjacent boundary processing is one of video processing (imageprocessing) performed when one video (image) is divided into a pluralityof partial areas. Specifically, the adjacent boundary processing means“Processing, at a boundary of one partial area with the other partialareas, performed on the boundary of the one divided area with referenceto pixel values at the boundary of the other partial area”.

In FIG. 6, the entire filter FIL1 is included inside the partial areaA1. Therefore, in the partial area A1, in the entire area covered by thefilter FIL1, it is possible to perform filter processing on each pixelby referring to all pixel values of the partial area IMG. Thus, theadjacent boundary processing is not performed on the partial area A1.

In contrast to this, a part (cross-hatched portion) of the filter FIL2in FIG. 6 is not included in the partial area A2. The cross-hatchedportion of the filter FIL2 is included in the partial area A1.Therefore, when performing the filter processing on a pixel P2 in FIG. 6(one pixel at the left end of the partial area A2), it is necessary torefer to a pixel value of a pixel belonging to the partial area A1 (thecross-hatched portion of the filter FIL2). In this way, the filterprocessing using the filter FIL2 is an example of the adjacent boundaryprocessing.

Further, a part (cross-hatched portion) of a filter FIL4 in FIG. 6 isnot included in the partial area A4. The cross-hatched portion of thefilter FIL4 is included in the partial areas A1 to A3. Therefore, whenthe filter processing is performed on a pixel P4 in FIG. 6 (one pixel atthe upper left end of the partial area A4), it is necessary to refer tothe respective pixel values of (i) pixel values of pixels belonging tothe partial area A1 (part of the cross-hatched portion of the filterFIL4), (ii) pixel values of pixels belonging to the partial area A2(part of the cross-hatched portion of the filter FIL4), and (iii) pixelvalues of pixels belonging to the partial area A3 (part of thecross-hatched portion of the filter FIL4). As described above, thefilter processing using the filter FIL4 is also an example of theadjacent boundary processing.

Here, one partial area (for example, A1) among a plurality of partialareas (for example, A1 to A4) is referred to as a first partial area.Further, among the plurality of partial areas, a partial area (forexample, A2 to A4) adjacent to the first partial area is referred to asa second partial area.

In this case, the “adjacent boundary processing” can be expressed as“Processing, at a boundary between the first partial area (for example,A1) and the second partial area (A2 to A4), performed on the other ofthe first partial area and the second partial area with reference topixel values in one of the first partial area and the second partialarea”.

Example of Synchronization Determination Method

Examples of the synchronization determination method in the control unit80 include the following methods 1 to 3. The control unit 80 maydetermine whether or not the plurality of input videos (for example, thefirst to fourth input videos) is a synchronous video by using at leastone of methods 1 to 3.

(Method 1): Synchronization determination is performed using input videoinformation. More specifically, the synchronization determination isperformed based on a content type of an input video. As an example, inthe HDMI standard, a bit which is indicating a content type of the inputvideo is defined in AVIInfoFrame of the input video.

For example, a case where the first to fourth input videos aresynchronous videos which are intended to constitute one 8K4K video(entire input video) may be considered. In this case, in each of thebits, the content type of each of the first to fourth input videos isindicated as “8K4K video”. Therefore, when the content type of each ofthe first to fourth input videos matches a predetermined content type(for example, 8K4K video), the control unit 80 may determine that thefirst to fourth input videos are synchronous videos.

On the other hand, when the first to fourth input videos areasynchronous videos, in each of the bits, the content type of each ofthe to fourth input videos is indicated as “4K2K video”. Therefore, whenthe content type of each of the first to fourth input videos does notmatch the predetermined content type (for example, 8K4K video), thecontrol unit 80 may determine that the first to fourth input videos areasynchronous videos.

(Method 2): Synchronization determination is performed using input videoinformation. More specifically, the synchronization determination isperformed based on the resolution (vertical resolution and horizontalresolution) and the frame rate of the input video indicated in the inputvideo information.

When the first to fourth input videos have the same resolution and framerate, the control unit 80 may determine that the first to fourth inputvideos are synchronous videos. This is because the resolution and theframe rate of each input video are set to be the same when the first tofourth input videos are synchronous videos intended to constitute one8K4K video (entire input video).

On the other hand, when at least one of the resolution and the framerate differs between the input videos, it may be said that the first tofourth input videos are likely to be asynchronous videos. This isbecause the first to fourth input videos that are asynchronous videoshave low correlation (or no correlation) with each other. Therefore,when at least one of the resolution and the frame rate does not matchbetween the first to fourth input videos, the control unit 80 maydetermine that the first to fourth input videos are asynchronous videos.

(Method 3): The synchronization determination is performed by focusingon skew of vertical synchronization signals between a plurality of inputvideos. According to method 3, the synchronization determination can beperformed with higher accuracy than method 2. According to method 3,even for a plurality of asynchronous videos having the same resolutionand frame rate, it can be appropriately determined that the videos areasynchronous videos.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining method 3. In FIG. 7, two inputvideos, “input video 0” and “input video 1” are considered. The inputvideo 0 and the input video 1 are asynchronous videos having the sameresolution and frame rate.

Note that, in FIG. 7, the symbols for the input video 0 are as follows.

Vsnc0: Vertical synchronization signal of the input video 0

DE0: Data enable signal of the input video 0

DE_CNT0: Counter value of the data enable signal of the input video 0

Similarly, the symbols related to the input video 1 are as follows.

Vsync1: Vertical synchronization signal of the input video 1

DE1: Data enable signal of the input video 1 DE_CNT1: Counter value ofthe data enable signal of the input video 1

As shown in FIG. 7, DE_CNT0 indicates a value obtained by counting thepulses of DE0. When DE0 becomes OFF (Low) (when Vsync0 becomes ON(High)), DE_CNT0 is reset to 0. Note that DE_CNT0 takes any integervalue from 0 to 5. The same applies to DE_CNT1.

When the input videos 0 and 1 are asynchronous videos, the differencebetween the timing at which Vsync0 becomes ON and the timing at whichVsync1 becomes ON increases as time elapses. Therefore, when the inputvideos 0 and 1 are asynchronous videos, it is common that DE_CNT0 andDE_CNT1 take different values at one point in time.

From the above, when the input videos 0 and 1 are asynchronous videos,Δ=|DE_CENT0−DE_CNT1| is expected to have a larger value than when theinput videos 0 and 1 are synchronous videos. Δ is also referred to asskew between the input videos 0 and 1. Δ can be used as an indexindicating the shift of timing (asynchronism).

The control unit 80 may perform the synchronization determination bydetermining whether or not Δ is equal to or less than a predeterminedthreshold value α. Specifically, when the condition of Δ≤α (hereinafter,skew condition) is satisfied, the control unit 80 may determine that theinput videos 0 and 1 are synchronous videos. On the other hand, when Δ>α(when the skew condition is not satisfied), the control unit 80 maydetermine that the input videos 0 and 1 are asynchronous videos.

In other words, the control unit 80 may determine that the input videos0 and 1 are synchronous videos when the shift of timing is within thepredetermined range. On the other hand, when the shift of timing is notwithin the predetermined range, the control unit 80 may determine thatthe input videos 0 and 1 are asynchronous videos.

As an example, as shown in FIG. 7, at the timing when Vsync0 becomes ON,DE_CNT0 and DE_CONT1 are read. In this case, Δ=|0−4|=4. For example, acase where α=3 is set, is considered. In this case, since Δ>α=3, theskew condition is not satisfied. Therefore, the control unit 80 candetermine that the input videos 0 and 1 are asynchronous videos.

The control unit 80 may perform a synchronization determination based onthe skew condition for each of the first to fourth input videos.Specifically, when the skew condition is satisfied for all of the firstto fourth input videos, the control unit 80 determines that the first tofourth input videos are synchronous videos. On the other hand, whenthere is a set of input videos that do not satisfy the skew conditionamong the first to fourth input videos, the control unit 80 determinesthat the first to fourth input videos are asynchronous videos.

Note that when α is set to be too small, it is not possible toappropriately perform the synchronization determination. For example,when it is set to α=3, it can be expressed as Δ<α=3, and the skewcondition is not satisfied. Therefore, it is erroneously determined thatthe input videos 0 and 1 are synchronous videos. Therefore, a needs tobe set to a large value to some extent.

Note that, in the synchronization processing unit 114, synchronizationbetween input videos is performed in units of lines (systems). When thesynchronization is performed on a line basis, a line memory is required.When the value of Δ is equal to or greater than the number of linememories (hereinafter, line memory count), the input video is processedas an asynchronous video. Therefore, α depends on the line memory count.For example, when the line memory count is two, it can be expressed asΔ=2. Note that the line memory count depends on the content of the videoprocessing of the video processing unit 12.

Example of Further Improvement of Method 3

As described above, when the input videos 0 and 1 are asynchronousvideos, the above shift of timing becomes larger as time elapses.Therefore, depending on the timing at which DE_CNT0 and DE_CNT1 areread, even if the input videos 0 and 1 are asynchronous videos, there isa possibility that it is expressed as ×≤α.

That is, when the skew condition is continuously determined for a longtime, there may be a possibility that the skew condition is accidentallysatisfied. This is because the possible values of each of DE_CNT0 andDE_CNT1 are limited to 0 to 5.

Therefore, after it is determined that the skew condition is satisfiedonce and then it is determined that the skew condition is not satisfied,the control unit 80 may determine that the input videos 0 and 1 areasynchronous videos. Then, the control unit 80 may stop the subsequentdetermination processing with the skew condition. That is, the controlunit 80 may fix the determination result (control value CV). Thereby,the synchronization determination can be performed with higher accuracy.

Example of Processing Flow in Display Device 1

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow in thedisplay device 1 (the back-end processing unit 10). First, theprocessing S1 to S4 in FIG. 8(a) will be described. The input unit 11acquires a plurality of input videos (for example, first to fourth inputvideos) (S1). The control unit. 80 determines whether or not the inputvideos are synchronous videos (S2, control step).

When the input videos are synchronous videos (YES in S2), the videoprocessing unit 12 performs the adjacent boundary processing on theinput videos (S3, video processing step). On the other hand, when theinput videos are asynchronous videos (NO in S2), the video processingunit 12 does not perform the adjacent boundary processing on the inputvideos (S4, video processing step).

The processing S11 to S13 in FIG. 8(b) show the content of S2 (controlstep) in FIG. 8(a) more specifically. In FIG. 8(b), the synchronizationdetermination is performed by combining the above-described methods 1 to3. First, the control unit 80 determines whether or not content types ofthe input videos match a predetermined content type as in theabove-described method 1 (S11).

When the content types of the input videos match the predeterminedcontent type (YES in S11), the control unit 80 determines that the inputvideos are synchronous videos. Therefore, the control unit 80 sets thecontrol value CV to 1 (S14). As shown in S3 described above, when thecontrol value is set as CV=1, the video processing unit 12 starts theadjacent boundary processing on the input videos.

On the other hand, when the content types of the input videos do notmatch the predetermined content type (NO in S11), the control unit 80determines whether or not the input videos have the same resolution andframe rate as in method 2 described above (S12).

When the input videos have the same resolution and frame rate (YES inS12), the process proceeds to S13. That is, the control unit 80 furtherdetermines whether or not the skew condition is satisfied as in theabove-described method 3 (S13). When the skew condition is satisfied(YES in S13), the process proceeds to S14 described above.

On the other hand, when the input videos do not have the same resolutionand frame rate (NO in S12) or when the skew condition is not satisfied(NO in S13), the control unit 80 determines that the input videos areasynchronous videos (not synchronous videos). Therefore, the controlunit 80 sets the control value CV to 0 (S15). As shown in S4 describedabove, when the control value is set as CV=0, the video processing unit12 does not perform the adjacent boundary processing on the inputvideos.

Effects of Display Device 1

According to the display device 1, it is possible to arbitrarily performthe adjacent boundary processing on a plurality of input videosaccording to the control value CV. Therefore, it is possible to preventa decrease in display quality at each boundary of a plurality of partialareas (for example, partial areas A1 to A4 as 4K2K video) constitutingone entire output video (for example, 8K4K video).

FIG. 9 are diagrams showing a state of video processing when four inputvideos (IMGAin1 to IMGAin4) are synchronous videos. As shown in FIG.9(a), the adjacent boundary processing by the video processing unit 12can be performed on four synchronous videos.

For example, in the video processing unit 12, the frame rate conversionunits 121A to 121D may perform MEMC. Further, in the video processingunit 12, the enlargement units 122A to 122D may refer to the pixelvalues of the adjacent pixels positioned in the second partial area whenthe pixels positioned at the boundary of the first partial area areenlarged.

Therefore, four processed videos (first to fourth processed videos) withimproved display quality at each boundary can be obtained. That is, itis possible to improve the display quality of one entire video(hereinafter, entire processed video) constituted by the four processedvideos. Similarly, four output videos with improved display quality ateach boundary can be obtained. As a result, it is possible to improvethe display quality of one entire output video (for example, IMGAout)constituted by four output videos (for example, IMGAout1 to IMGAout4).

As shown in FIG. 9(b), when the input videos are synchronous videos, thevideo processing unit 12 may further perform the boundary processing onthe entire input video. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9(b), theboundary processing may be further performed on a peripheral portion ofthe entire input video. As a result, it is possible to improve thedisplay quality of the entire output video (the entire processed video).However, the boundary processing need not always be performed.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a state of video processing when four inputvideos (IMGin1 to IMGin4) are asynchronous videos. In FIG. 10, IMGin1 toIMGin4 are represented by characters “A” to “D” for simplicity. This isthe same in the following drawings. Further, A to D are also referred toas partial areas. The partial areas A to D are associated with thepartial display areas 71A to 71D.

When the plurality of input videos are asynchronous videos, theplurality of videos has a low correlation with each other (or have nocorrelation). For this reason, when the adjacent boundary processing isperformed, the display quality at each boundary of the plurality ofpartial areas (A to D) constituting one virtual entire output video maybe decreased.

However, in the related art, the idea of switching the performing ofadjacent boundary processing is not considered. Therefore, in therelated art, there is a problem that even when the input videos areasynchronous videos, the adjacent boundary processing is performed as inthe case of the synchronous videos.

In contrast to this, as shown in FIG. 10(a), according to the displaydevice 1, the adjacent boundary processing by the video processing unit12 is not performed on the asynchronous videos. Therefore, even when aplurality of output videos (for example, IMGout1 to IMGout4), which isan asynchronous video, is displayed in each partial display area, it ispossible to prevent a decrease in display quality.

For example, in the video processing unit 12, the frame rate conversionunits 121A to 121D perform frame repeat without performing MEMC.Further, in the video processing unit 12, when each pixel is enlarged,the enlargement units 122A to 122D do not refer to the pixel values ofadjacent pixels. That is, the enlargement units 122A to 122D performsimple enlargement (pixel repeat).

As shown in FIG. 10(b), when the input videos are asynchronous videos,the video processing unit 12 may perform the boundary processing on eachinput video. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 10(b), the boundaryprocessing may be performed on a peripheral portion of each input video.Thereby, even when the input videos are asynchronous videos, the displayquality of each of the plurality of output videos (processed video) canbe further improved. However, the boundary processing need not always beperformed.

As described above, according to the display device 1, it is possible toswitch the performing of the adjacent boundary processing depending onwhether or not the input videos are synchronous videos or asynchronousvideos. That is, more appropriate video processing can be performed oneach of the synchronous videos and the asynchronous videos. As a result,it is possible to provide a video with a more superior display qualitythan in the related art.

Modification Example

(1) Embodiment 1 exemplifies as an example the case where each inputvideo is a 4K2K video and the entire input video is an 8K4K video.However, the resolutions of the input video and the entire input videoare not limited to these. Similarly, the resolution of the entire outputvideo is not particularly limited. The display device 1 only needs toswitch the performing of the adjacent boundary processing on a pluralityof input videos according to the control value CV.

(2) The control unit 80 does not necessarily need to set the controlvalue CV according to the synchronization determination result. That is,the control value CV does not necessarily need to indicate “whether ornot the input videos are synchronization signals”. The control value CVmay be arbitrarily set by a user.

For example, the user operation reception unit 75 may receive a useroperation for setting the control value CV (for example, pressing apredetermined button on a remote controller). The control unit 80 mayset the control value CV according to the user operation received by theuser operation reception unit 75.

(3) The control unit 80 may set the control value CV based on the resultof analyzing an input video. The above-described synchronizationdetermination is a specific example of the above analysis. However, theanalysis is not limited to only the synchronization determination.

Further, the control unit 80 may operate at least two of the videoprocessing units among the video processing units 12A to 12D accordingto the result of analyzing a plurality of input videos. That is, thecontrol unit 80 may cause the video processing unit 12 to process atleast two input videos according to the result of analyzing theplurality of input videos.

Embodiment 2

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining input videos and output videos on adisplay device 2 according to Embodiment 2. In Embodiment 2, unlikeEmbodiment 1, two input videos (first input video and second inputvideo) are supplied to the display device 2 as a plurality of inputvideos. Therefore, in FIG. 11, arrows corresponding to the third inputvideo and the fourth input video in FIG. 1 are indicated by dottedlines.

In Embodiment 2, the first input video and the second input video areprocessed by the video processing units 12A and 12B, respectively, andthe first processed video and the second processed video are generated.Unlike Embodiment 1, the third processed video and the fourth processedvideo are not generated in the video processing units 120 and 120. Forthis reason, in FIG. 11, arrows corresponding to the third processedvideo and the fourth processed vide in FIG. 1 are indicated by dottedlines.

The output unit 13 acquires the first processed video and the secondprocessed video from the video processing units 12A and 12B. UnlikeEmbodiment 1, the output unit 13 of Embodiment 2 generates first tofourth output videos by dividing a part of the first processed video andthe second processed video. In Embodiment 2, by arranging two 4K2Kvideos (input videos) that are synchronous videos in the horizontaldirection, an example in which one 8K2K video (video having a resolutionof 7680 horizontal pixels×2160 vertical pixels) is constituted as theentire input video will be described. In this way, in Embodiment 2, thenumber of partial areas (the number of input videos) is different fromthe number of partial display areas.

FIG. 12(a) shows an example of an entire input video according toEmbodiment 2. In FIG. 12(a), one entire input video IMGAin1 v isrepresented by combining two first input video IMGAin1 v and the secondinput video IMGAin2 v, which are synchronous videos. FIG. 12(b) shows afirst input video IMGin1 v and a second input video IMGin2 v as anexample of two asynchronous videos.

FIG. 13(a) shows an example of one entire output video (IMGAoutv)constituted by four output videos (first output video IMGAout1 v tofourth output video IMGAout4 v) which are synchronous videos. In FIG.13(a), the first output video IMGAout1 v and the third output videoIMGAout3 v correspond to the first input video IMGAin1 v in FIG. 12(a).

Specifically, the output unit 13 generates a video in which the entirearea from the upper end of the first input video IMGAin1 v (morestrictly, the first processed video) to ¼ of the vertical directionresolution is replaced with a black background. The output unit 13outputs the video as a first output video IMGAout1 v. Further, theoutput unit 13 generates a video in which the entire area from thebottom end of the first input video IMGAin1 v (more strictly, the firstprocessed video) to ¼ of the vertical direction resolution is replacedwith a black background. The output unit 13 outputs the video as a thirdoutput video IMGAout3 v.

Similarly, the second output video IMGAout2 v and the fourth outputvideo IMGAout4 correspond to the second input video IMGAin2 v in FIG.12(a). Specifically, the output unit 13 generates a video in which theentire area from the upper end of the second input video IMGAin2 v (morestrictly, the second processed video) to ¼ of the vertical directionresolution is replaced with a black background. The output unit 13outputs the video as a second output video IMGAout2 v. Further, theoutput unit 13 generates a video in which the entire area from thebottom end of the second input video IMGAin2 v (more strictly, thesecond processed video) to ¼ of the vertical direction resolution isreplaced with a black background. The output unit 13 outputs the videoas a fourth output video IMGAout4 v.

The first output video IMGAout1 v to the fourth output video IMGAout4 vare synchronous videos, like the first input video IMGAin1 v to thesecond input video IMGAin2 v. The entire output video IMGAoutv is avideo corresponding to the entire input video IMGAinv. IMGAoutv is an8K4K video, but the actual resolution is 4K2K.

FIG. 13(b) shows a first output video IMGout1 v to a fourth output videoIMGout4 v as an example of four asynchronous videos. In FIG. 13(b), thefirst output video IMGout1 v and the third output video IMGout3 vcorrespond to the first input video IMGin1 v in FIG. 12(b).

Specifically, the output unit 13 generates a video in which the entirearea from the upper end of the first input video IMGin1 v (morestrictly, the first, processed video) to ¼ of the vertical directionresolution is replaced with a black background. The output unit 13outputs the video as a first output video IMGout1 v. Further, the outputunit 13 generates a video in which the entire area from the bottom endof the first input video IMGin1 v (more strictly, the first processedvideo) to ¼ of the vertical direction resolution is replaced with ablack background. The output unit 13 outputs the video as a third outputvideo IMGout3 v.

Similarly, the second output video IMGout2 v and the fourth output videoIMGout4 v correspond to the second input video IMGin2 v in FIG. 12(b).Specifically, the output unit 13 generates a video in which the entirearea from the upper end of the second input video IMGin2 v (morestrictly, the second processed video ¼ of the vertical directionresolution is replaced with a black background. The output unit 13outputs the video as a second output video IMGout2 v. Further, theoutput unit 13 generates a video in which the entire area from thebottom end of the second input video IMGin2 v (more strictly, the secondprocessed video) to ¼ of the vertical direction resolution is replacedwith a black background. The output unit 13 outputs the video as afourth output video IMGout4 v.

The first output video IMGout1 v to the fourth output video IMGout4 vare asynchronous videos, like the first input video IMGin1 v to thesecond input video IMGin2 v.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state of video processing when two inputvideos (IMGAin1 v to IMGAin2 v) are synchronous videos. As shown in FIG.14(a), the adjacent boundary processing by the video processing unit 12can be performed on two synchronous videos. As shown in FIG. 14(b), theboundary processing may be further performed on a peripheral portion ofthe entire input video.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state of video processing when two inputvideos (IMGin1 v to IMGin2 v) are asynchronous videos. As shown in FIG.25(a), similarly to Embodiment 1, the adjacent boundary processing bythe video processing unit 12 is not performed on the asynchronousvideos. As shown in FIG. 15(b), the boundary processing may be furtherperformed on a peripheral portion of each output video.

As described above, in the display device according to an aspect of thepresent disclosure, the number of input videos may be smaller than thenumber of input IF units. The number of input videos may be plural. Forexample, three input videos may be input to the input unit. Similarly,the number of transmission systems and video processing systems in theback-end processing unit 10 is not limited to four.

Embodiment 3

FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of adisplay device 3 according to Embodiment 3. The back-end processing unit30 of the display device 3 (video processing device) has a configurationin which the control unit 80 is removed from the back-end processingunit 10 in Embodiment 1. In the display device 3, the control unit 80 isprovided outside the back-end processing unit 10. In this way, thecontrol unit 80 does not necessarily need to be provided inside theback-end processing unit.

Embodiment 4

FIG. 17 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of adisplay device 4 according to Embodiment 4. The back-end processing unit40 of the display device 4 (video processing device) has a configurationin which the output unit 13 is replaced with the output unit 43 in theback-end processing unit 10 in Embodiment 1. The output unit 43 differsfrom the output unit 13 in having one output IF unit 431.

The output IF unit 431 supplies the first to fourth output videos to thedisplay unit 70 (partial display areas 71A to 71D). As described above,the output IF unit can be integrated.

Modification Example

FIG. 18 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of adisplay device 4 v as one modification of Embodiment 4. The back-endprocessing unit 40 v of a display device 4 v (video processing device)has a configuration in which the control unit 80 is removed from theback-end processing unit 40 of Embodiment 4. In the display device 4 v,the control unit 80 is provided outside the back-end processing unit 10.In this way, the configurations of Embodiments 3 and 4 can be combined.

Embodiment 5

Unlike the above embodiments, the back-end processing unit can bedivided into a plurality of function units. That is, the number ofback-end processing u is not limited to one. As an example, the back-endprocessing unit may be realized as two separate function units.

Implementation Example by Using Software

Control blocks of the display devices 1 to 4 v (particularly, theback-end processing units 10 to 40 v and the control unit 80) may berealized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed on an integrated circuit(IC chip) or the like, or realized by software.

In the latter case, the display devices 1 to 4 v include a computer thatexecutes instructions of a program that is software for realizing eachfunction. This computer includes, for example, at least one processor(control device) and at least one computer-readable recording mediumstoring the program. Further, in the computer, the object of oneembodiment of the present disclosure achieved by the processor readingthe program from the recording medium and executing the program. As theprocessor, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) can be used. Asthe recording medium, a “non-temporary tangible medium” such as a readonly memory (ROM), a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, aprogrammable logic circuit, or the like can be used. Further, a randomaccess memory (RAM) or the like for expanding the program may be furtherprovided. The program may be supplied to the computer via anytransmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcastwave) that can transmit the program. Note that one aspect of the presentdisclosure can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded ina carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronictransmission.

SUMMARY

According to Aspect 1 of the present disclosure, there is provided avideo processing device (back-end processing unit 10 and control unit.80) processing a plurality of input videos (for example, IMGAin1 toIMGAin4), including: a video processing unit (12, 12A to 12D) thatprocesses each of the plurality of input videos; and a control unit (80)that sets a control value (CV) for controlling the video processingunit, in which the video processing unit performs adjacent boundaryprocessing on an entire input video according to the control value, andgenerates a plurality of processed videos in which an entire input video(for example, IMGAin) is constituted by combining the plurality of inputvideos, and when in the entire input video, among a plurality of partialareas (for example, A1-AA) associated with of the plurality ofrespective input videos constituting the entire input video, (i) one ofthe partial areas is defined as a first partial area (for example, A1),and (ii) another of the partial areas adjacent to the first partial areais defined as a second partial area (for example, A2-A4), and whenprocessing which is performed, by referring to a pixel value in one ofthe first partial area and the second partial area, on another of thefirst partial area and the second partial area at a boundary between thefirst partial area and the second partial area, is defined as adjacentboundary processing, the video processing unit performs the adjacentboundary processing on the entire input video according to the controlvalue, and generates a plurality of processed videos.

According to the above configuration, it is possible to arbitrarilydetermine whether or not to perform the adjacent boundary processing onthe entire input video according to the control value. Therefore, whenit is preferable not to perform the adjacent boundary processing (forexample, when a plurality of input videos are asynchronous videos), theprocessed videos can be generated without causing the video processingunit to perform the adjacent boundary processing. That is, only when itis preferable to perform the adjacent boundary processing (for example,when a plurality of input videos are synchronous videos), the processedvideos can be generated by causing the video processing unit to performthe adjacent boundary processing. As a result, is possible to provide avideo with a more superior display quality than in the related art.

In the video processing device according to Aspect 2 of the presentdisclosure, in Aspect 1, the control unit may set the control valueaccording to a result of determining whether or not the plurality ofinput videos are synchronous videos, and the video processing unit mayperform the adjacent boundary processing on the entire input video andgenerate the plurality of processed videos when the plurality of inputvideos are synchronous videos.

According to the above configuration, it is possible for the controlunit to determine whether or not the plurality of input videos aresynchronous videos (synchronization determination). Therefore, it ispossible to indicate whether or not the plurality of input videos aresynchronous videos using the control value. Therefore, only when theplurality of input videos are synchronous videos, the video processingunit can automatically perform the adjacent boundary processing.

In the video processing device according to Aspect 3 of the presentdisclosure, in Aspect 2, the control unit may determine that theplurality of input videos are synchronous videos when a content type ofeach of the plurality of input videos matches a predetermined contenttype.

According to the above configuration, the synchronization determinationcan be performed based on the content type of each of the plurality ofinput videos.

In the video processing device according to Aspect 4 of the presentdisclosure, in Aspect 2 or 3, the control unit may determine that theplurality of input videos are synchronous videos when the plurality ofinput videos have an identical resolution and frame rate.

According to the above configuration, the synchronization determinationcan be performed based on the resolution and the frame rate of each ofthe plurality of input videos. Therefore, the synchronizationdetermination can be performed more reliably.

In the video processing device according to Aspect 5 of the presentdisclosure, in any one of Aspects 2 to 4, the control unit may determinethat the plurality of input videos are synchronous videos when a shiftof timing at which each of vertical synchronization signals of theplurality of input videos becomes ON, is within a predetermined range.

According to the above configuration, the synchronization determinationcan be performed by focusing on the skew of the vertical synchronizationsignals between the plurality of input videos. Therefore, thesynchronization determination can be performed more reliably.

In the video processing device according to Aspect the presentdisclosure, in any one of Aspects 2 to 5, the video processing unit mayfurther perform boundary processing on the entire input video andgenerate the plurality of processed videos when the plurality of inputvideos are synchronous videos.

According to the above configuration, when the plurality of input videosare synchronous videos, it is possible to provide a video (the entirevideo constituted by the plurality of processed videos and the entireprocessed video) with a further more superior display quality.

In the video processing device according to Aspect 7 of the presentdisclosure, in any one of Aspects 2 to 6, the video processing unit mayperform the boundary processing on each of the plurality of inputvideos, and generate the plurality of processed videos, when theplurality of input videos are asynchronous videos.

According to the above configuration, even when the plurality of inputvideos are asynchronous videos, it is possible to provide a video (eachof the plurality of processed videos) with a further more superiordisplay quality.

In the video processing device according to Aspect 8 of the presentdisclosure, in any one of Aspects 1 to 7, the control unit may set thecontrol value according to a user operation.

In the video processing device according to Aspect 9 of the presentdisclosure, in any one of Aspects 1 to 8, the control unit may cause thevideo processing unit to process at least two of the plurality of inputvideos according to a result of analyzing the plurality of input videos.

A display device (1) according to Aspect 10 of the present disclosurepreferably includes the video processing device according to any one ofAspects 1 to 9; and a display unit (70).

According to Aspect 11 of the present disclosure, there is provided avideo processing method for processing a plurality of input videos,including: a video processing step of processing each of the pluralityof input videos; and a control step of setting a control value forcontrolling the video processing step, in which an entire input video isconstituted by combining the plurality of input videos, and when in theentire input video, among a plurality of partial areas associated withthe plurality of respective input videos constituting the entire inputvideo, (i) one of the partial areas is defined as a first partial area,and (ii) another of the partial areas adjacent to the first partial areais defined as a second partial area, and when processing which isperformed, by referring to a pixel value in one of the first partialarea and the second partial area, on another of the first partial areaand the second partial area at a boundary between the first partial areaand the second partial area, is defined as adjacent boundary processing,the video processing step further includes steps of performing theadjacent boundary processing on the entire input video according to thecontrol value, and generating a plurality of processed videos.

The video processing device according to each aspect of the presentdisclosure may be realized by a computer. In this case, a controlprogram of the video processing device that causes the computer torealize the video processing device by operating the computer as eachunit (software element) included in the video processing device, and acomputer-readable recording medium recording the control program alsofalls within the scope of one aspect of the present disclosure.

APPENDIX

One aspect of the present disclosure is not limited to theabove-described embodiments, and various modifications can be madewithin the scope of the claims, and embodiments obtained byappropriately combining the technical means disclosed in differentembodiments are also included in the technical scope of one aspect ofthe present disclosure. Further, new technical features can be formed bycombining the technical means disclosed in each embodiment.

Another Expression of One Aspect of the Present Disclosure

One aspect of the present disclosure can also be expressed as follows.

That is, a video processing device according to an aspect of the presentdisclosure includes an input unit, a control unit that determines acontrol value, a plurality of video processing units that process theinput videos separately, and an output unit that outputs a processingresult of the video processing unit, in which the video processing unitincludes at least an adjacent boundary processing unit, and activates orstops the adjacent boundary processing unit according to the controlvalue.

In the video processing device according to another aspect of thepresent disclosure, the input unit may include a plurality of inputprocessing units and a synchronization processing unit, in which theplurality of input processing units may simultaneously input videosignals, and the synchronization processing unit may synchronize theplurality of video signals input by the plurality of input processingunits.

In the video processing device according to still another aspect of thepresent disclosure, the control unit may analyze information of thevideo signals input to the plurality of input processing units, anddetermine the control value based on the analyzed result.

In the video processing device according to still another aspect of thepresent disclosure, the control unit may analyze at least one of acontent type, a frame rate, a resolution, and skew of synchronizationsignal of the video signal input to each of the input processing units.

In the video processing device according to still another aspect of thepresent disclosure, the control unit may determine the control valueaccording to a user input.

In the video processing device according to still another aspect of thepresent disclosure, the video processing unit may include a boundaryprocessing unit.

In the video processing device according to still another aspect of thepresent disclosure, the control unit may include a function unit thatoperates at least two video processing units in the plurality of videoprocessing units based on an analysis result from the analysis unit.

A display device according to still another aspect of the presentdisclosure may include the video processing device according to oneaspect of the present disclosure, and a display unit that displays anoutput of the video processing device.

A video processing method according to still another aspect of thepresent disclosure includes an input step, a control step of determininga control value, a plurality of video processing steps of processing theinput videos separately, and an output step of outputting a processedresult of the video processing step, in which the video processing stepfurther includes an adjacent boundary processing step, and the videoprocessing method further includes a step of performing or skipping theadjacent boundary processing step based on the control value.

A video processing program according to still another aspect of thepresent disclosure includes an input step, a control step of determininga control value, a plurality of video processing steps of processing theinput videos separately, and an output step of outputting a processedresult of the video processing step, in which the video processing stepfurther includes an adjacent boundary processing step, and the videoprocessing program further includes a step of performing or skipping theadjacent boundary processing step based on the control value.

Further, a recording medium according to still another aspect of thepresent disclosure may be a computer-readable recording medium thatstores the processing program according to one aspect of the presentdisclosure.

CROSS-REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of priority to Japanese patentapplication filed on Nov. 1, 2017: Japanese Patent Application No.2017-212113, and by referencing it, the entire contents thereof areincluded in this document.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

1, 2, 3, 4, 4 v DISPLAY DEVICE

10, 30, 40, 40 v BACK-END PROCESSING UNIT (VIDEO PROCESSING DEVICE)

12, 12A TO 12D VIDEO PROCESSING UNIT

70 DISPLAY UNIT (DISPLAY SCREEN)

71A TO 71D PARTIAL DISPLAY AREA

80 CONTROL UNIT (VIDEO PROCESSING DEVICE)

A1 PARTIAL AREA (FIRST PARTIAL AREA)

A2 TO A4 PARTIAL AREA (SECOND PARTIAL AREA)

A TO D PARTIAL AREA

CV CONTROL VALUE

IMGAin1 TO IMGAin4, IMGAin1 v TO IMGAin2 v INPUT VIDEO

IMGin1 TO IMGin4, IMGin1 v TO IMGin2 v INPUT VIDEO

IMGAin, IMGAinv ENTIRE INPUT VIDEO

The invention claimed is:
 1. A video processing device processing aplurality of input videos, comprising: a video processing unit thatprocesses each of the plurality of input videos; and a control unit thatsets a control value for controlling the video processing unit accordingto a result of determining whether or not the plurality of input videosare synchronous videos wherein an entire input video is constituted bycombining the plurality of input videos, and when in the entire inputvideo, among a plurality of partial areas associated with the pluralityof respective input videos constituting the entire input video, (i) oneof the partial areas is defined as a first partial area, and (ii)another of the partial areas adjacent to the first partial area isdefined as a second partial area, and when processing which isperformed, by referring to a pixel value in one of the first partialarea and the second partial area, on another of the first partial areaand the second partial area at a boundary between the first partial areaand the second partial area, is defined as adjacent boundary processing,the video processing unit performs the adjacent boundary processing onthe entire input video according to the control value, and generates aplurality of processed videos, the video processing unit performsboundary processing on each of the plurality of input videos andgenerates the plurality of processed videos, when the control valueindicates that the plurality of input videos are asynchronous videos,and the boundary processing includes first filter processing that isperformed when a filter is entirely included inside the first and secondpartial areas, and second filter processing that is performed when apart of the filter is located outside the first and second partialareas, the second filter processing comprising changing a filtercoefficient of the filter in accordance with where the filter islocated.
 2. The video processing device according to claim 1, whereinthe video processing unit performs the adjacent boundary processing onthe entire input video and generates the plurality of processed videoswhen the plurality of input videos are synchronous videos.
 3. The videoprocessing device according to claim 2, wherein the control unitdetermines that the plurality of input videos are synchronous videoswhen a content type of each of the plurality of input videos matches apredetermined content type.
 4. The video processing device according toclaim 2, wherein the control unit determines that the plurality of inputvideos are synchronous videos when the plurality of input videos have anidentical resolution and frame rate.
 5. The video processing deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the control unit determines that theplurality of input videos are synchronous videos when a shift of timingat which each of vertical synchronization signals of the plurality ofinput videos becomes ON is within a predetermined range.
 6. The videoprocessing device according to claim 2, wherein the video processingunit further performs boundary processing on the entire input video andgenerates the plurality of processed videos when the plurality of inputvideos are synchronous videos.
 7. The video processing device accordingto claim 1, wherein the control unit sets the control value according toa user operation.
 8. The video processing device according to claim 1,wherein the control unit causes the video processing unit to process atleast two of the plurality of input videos according to a result ofanalyzing the plurality of input videos.
 9. A display device,comprising: the video processing device according to claim 1; and adisplay unit.
 10. A non-transitory tangible computer-readable recordingmedium storing a control program for causing a computer to function asthe video processing device according to claim 1, the control programcausing the computer to function as the video processing unit and thecontrol unit.
 11. A video processing method for processing a pluralityof input videos, comprising: a video processing step of processing eachof the plurality of input videos; and a control step of setting acontrol value for controlling the video processing step according to aresult of determining whether or not the plurality of input videos aresynchronous videos, wherein an entire input video is constituted bycombining the plurality of input videos, and when in the entire inputvideo, among a plurality of partial areas associated with the pluralityof respective input videos constituting the entire input video, (i) oneof the partial areas is defined as a first partial area, and (ii)another of the partial areas adjacent to the first partial area isdefined as a second partial area, and when processing which isperformed, by referring to a pixel value in one of the first partialarea and the second partial area, on another of the first partial areaand the second partial area at a boundary between the first partial areaand the second partial area, is defined as adjacent boundary processing,the video processing step further includes steps of performing theadjacent boundary processing on the entire input video according to thecontrol value, and generating a plurality of processed videos, the videoprocessing step includes performing boundary processing on each of theplurality of input videos and generating the plurality of processedvideos, when the control value indicates that the plurality of inputvideos are asynchronous videos, and the boundary processing includesfirst filter processing that is performed when a filter is entirelyincluded inside the first and second partial areas, and second filterprocessing that is performed when a part of the filter is locatedoutside the first and second partial areas, the second filter processingcomprising changing a filter coefficient of the filter in accordancewith where the filter is located.